We ended up rolling for the scenario and ended up with the "5 movable objectives" one. As the goblins were left at home my opponent picked a selection of characters from his shelf - Gotrek, another Slayer, a 5th ed Wardancer Hero and 2 Waywatchers, to represent a party of adventurers that needed saving (or indeed sacrificing on the altar of Nagash).

I tweaked my list a bit, as I didn't paint the other 5 archers and was a bit short on core.

Is that the Skullvane manse in the middle there? It looks pretty good from a distance

It is and its a fabulous bit of scenery! Need to get one of my own

No Blender Lord was a relief, though I didn't learn he was absent until I clashed with the GGs.

Turn 1:

I start off with advancing with the right flank, the Pistoliers up front, picking up one of the objectives and shooting 4 out of 5 Dire Wolves. Magic is stopped but my opponent does burn his scroll to accomplish this.

Undead march to meet me - Kemmler and the Skeletons (sound like the name of a band!) grab the Manse and the objective hidden inside it. I burn my scroll to stop Curse of Years on the Halberdiers. Terrorgheist screams off my Pistoliers

Turn 2:

Demigryphs charge and wipe out the Wolves. The rest of the army pushed up a bit with the Archer detachment picking up an objective right in front of the GGs. In the magic phase I managed to fail to cast a boosted Shems on 6 dice (!!!). I cheer myself up by gunning down several Zombies with the Hellblaster (only visible target).

Greatswords charge the Zombies. Magic kills the Hexwraiths (I was getting worried there!), while shooting continues to do nothing due to lack of targets...Demigryphs heroically bring down the Terrorgheist and brace to receive the incoming Ghouls. Greatswords beat the Zombies and crumble some. This might take a while though.

Grave Guards charge my Halberdiers. Ghouls charge the Demigryphs.Kemmler casts a big Van Hels - re-rolls to wound could hurt this turn!Halberdiers fight heroically and hold on despite losing 14 of their number. Their 24 S4 attack with hatred are not to be sniffed at! Demis kill some Ghouls and continue fighting. The Greatswords kill the remaining Zombies but are left fighting a Wight they cannot wound. Will static CR do the trick?

So, all units engaged and its a matter of grinding it out. Place your bets!

_________________cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Tricky one I guess because otherwise you'll want to dispel the RIP in your own phase, neutering that.

The defensive nature of RiP spells is such a pain and I needed my magic missiles to deal with the ethereals!

SpellArcher wrote:

RE.Lee wrote:

Terrorgheist charges the Demis,

Just no. The scream is not that good and it"s not there for the messy second round. I sometimes wonder just what, apart from the 1+ save, makes Demis so awesome but they are. They grind like hell.

The Terrorgheist is really fragile in combat, especially against non-stompable units. My opponent wanted to get him out of Hellblaster territory as soon as possible - hence the move. I also run halberds on my Demis, making them a bit more likely to take damage.

SpellArcher wrote:

RE.Lee wrote:

Will static CR do the trick?

Combat Reform as deep as possible?

Thats what I did, though I didn't move the models themselves - we just assumed they were 5 wide.

Turn 4:

War Altar moves out of the way, should the GGs break my halberdiers.I IF Timewarp on the unit however, making it less likely. A couple of handgunners die to the blast, but its well worth it.Shooting does nothing - no targets (why did I bother with the Hellblaster?).In combat the GGs get smashed and only the Vampire remains. I reform into a column with whats left of my unit.Greatswords fail to beat the ghost and lose a few of their number.The 2 Demigryphs carry on fighting.

Skeletons leave the Tower, preparing to mop up the Halberdiers.Magic boosts the fighters a bit.My BSB challenges the Vampire and slays him outright - thats faith and steel for you!Elsewhere the Ghouls kill a Demigryph, but are down to 2 ranks themselves.The Greatswords finish off the Wight and turn to grab an objective.

Turn 5:

Greatswords claim their target. I forget to move my Handgunners, so won't be able to get Gotrek...I again cast Timewarp on the Halberdiers.Demigryph brings down the Ghouls to 5.

Skeletons charge.Magic is stopped.Demigryph wipes out the Ghouls.Halberdiers hold against the Kemmler-led skeletons on nothing less than Insane Courage!

The battle is over - its a 2:1 victory for the Empire!

_________________cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

That was it, I guess Even had the Ghouls or Grave Guards broken through the line, I'd be able to unleash some righteous fury. That's defense in depth!

SpellArcher wrote:

RE.Lee wrote:

Halberdiers hold against the Kemmler-led skeletons on nothing less than Insane Courage!

Your opponent must be so fed up!

They didn't need Insane Courage, but I rolled it anyway

A really fun battle that could have gone either way until the very end. Kemmler not doing much was the problem, I think, those points would have been better spent on a solid Blender.I initially though my list would get whooped, but I had solid numbers and the War Altar's aura of hatred really helped me in the grinds. That and Timewarp, conveniently IF'ed at the exact right time!

_________________cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Congrats on the win. Reads like a fun battle. Parts of the VC army definitely under-performed. Which helped.

RE.Lee wrote:

Prince of Spires wrote:

Is that the Skullvane manse in the middle there? It looks pretty good from a distance

It is and its a fabulous bit of scenery! Need to get one of my own

Seeing it like that makes me agree. Somehow GW often manages to make horrible pictures of lovely models...

RE.Lee wrote:

So, all units engaged and its a matter of grinding it out. Place your bets!

At this point I found it hard to call. Which is usually a sign of a good and fun battle. But it was still anyone's game at this point.

As for the Hellblaster, that just how battles go sometimes. Everything ended up in combat reasonably fast. Which quickly reduces viable targets. But it the battle would have gone differently, for instance because of a different scenario, then it could very well have been a good option to have. it probably requires a few more games to figure out if it has a role here or not.

Rod

_________________

Eirik wrote:

Please try to remember that, no matter how 'official' the source seems, rumours are basically just a dictionary combined with a random number generator

Somehow GW often manages to make horrible pictures of lovely models...

This is so true!

Tight battle and probably the Vampire Counts player will have a longer break from gaming, with his baby due in March.

We are planning a bigger multi-player battle with some other guys. Happening next weekend and I've yet to decide on the scenario or the armies we'll be playing (I'll be supplying most of the miniatures).

Anything you'd like to see?

_________________cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

Well, there's both a Star Dragon and a Bloodthirster so you decide yourself

Scenario:1 VP for each of:- controlling the Fort in the center- controlling the Wood in the south- dealing most damage to the Hierotitan (WS3, T5, 4++), who would be moving randomly (scatter + artillery) at the beginning of each full turn and dealing 3D6-Ld wounds (no armour saves) to the closest unit).

Hierotitan starts way up north on the hill. You can see everybody is trying to stay clear of him We're hoping on the Hellcannon to do some damage here. The Dragon will have to wait. Also - we've nerfed all artillery to only do D3+1 damage.

Wrath of Khorne is the one with +2S on charge +1A later on, stubborn and a useful S5 breath weapon. No Heroic Killing Blow, though. He's MR2 I think, with no Banishment around I'm not that worried about magic, the RBTs could be an issue however.

The Crushers are down south, Razorgor by their side with the PGs opposite them.

Turn 1:

Chaos advances slowly. We manage to cast Curse of Anraheir on the Swordmasters, to prevent them from getting near the fort. Hellcannon causes 2 wounds on the Titan, who moved our way and smited a single Ungor with his beam.

Elves push up the field, with the White Lions taking the forest and the Spearmen getting between our Gors and the enemy massed Archers. Magic is stopped, but we burn our scroll. Shooting does 2 wounds on the Beastman Chariot but luckily RBTs fail to wound the Titan.

Turn 2:

Titan moves towards the Spearmen but does no damage.

We declare several charges (south to north): Bestigors and a Razorgor against White Lions, Chariot against Eagle, Gors against Spearmen, Razorgor against Dragon Princes. All make it!Warriors take the Fort, while the Bloodthirster hid behind it.Magic is largely stopped with a scroll, though we did manage to cast Savage Beast on the Great Shaman. The Hellcannon misses but the humble Ungors deal a wound to the Titan (9 shots, hitting on 5+, wounding on 6+, 4+ ward save)!Bestigors butcher the White Lions and surprisingly break the last 5. Despite the Razorgor joining the hunt they were not run down, though. The Chariot failed its dangerous terrain test going in, then rolled 1 impact hit, failing to kill the eagle, then took its last wound before the Beastmen could finish off the Eagle. Humiliating, really.Gors fared better against the Spearmen, obviously, especially with the 8 S7 attacks of the Great Shaman. Again 5 elves survived, again they broke and again managed to run away. The Razorgor managed to kill a Dragon Prince but ran away from the Knights.

Counter charges! Dragon Princes charge the Shaggoth near the fort. Silver Helms flank charge my Gors, while the Dragon hits the Bestigors in the side. Phoenix Guards make it to the Crushers.Magic and shooting were uneventful, crucially no wounds were dealt to the Titan.The Shaggoth killed 3 DPs but suffered 4 wounds in return and broke from combat, with the Fort luckily interfering with the pursuit. Silver Helms almost killed my Great Shaman but, on his last wound, the powerful Beastman slaughtered their unit. The guys up front did not manage to kill the road-bump of an Eagle and the combat continued.Dragon was challenged by my Champion, whose sacrifice allowed the unit to survive. For now.Phoenix Guards rolled poorly, caused a single wound and took some 6 back. They held on Steadfast.

Quite a turn! Most forces engaged, Beastmen going strong but might be running out of steam. Warriors and Daemon biding their time for now, but with the Dragon already chewing through stuff can they wait much longer?

_________________cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy